Bracket for highway guards



Feb. 16, 1943. w, s/ O 2,311,219 7 BRACKET FOR HIGHWA-Y GUARDS Filed Dec. 31, 1940 ub Y 22 HA 4/1211 FIG-6 i INVENTOR WILLIAM S. FERGUSON H5 H6.

FIG-5 w 7 ATTORN EYS Patented Feb. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlc 2,311,219 BRACKET FOR HIGHWAY GUARDS William S. Ferguson, Shaker Heights, Ohio Application December 31, 1940, Serial No. 372,594

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in guard rail construction and more particularly to improvements inbrackets for supporting highway guard rails on a series of posts.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved bracket for supporting a guard rail with reference to a post wherein the bracket is cheap to construct, easily installed, adapted to protect the guard rail against damage when the rail is bent about the bracket and adapted to withstand a blow on the rail to one side of the bracket without twisting the bracket about the supporting post.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel combination between a guard rail and. a supporting bracket wherein the rail has overlapping ends adjacent the bracket with spring means providing a tension take-up for the rails and passing through the bracket in a novel manner.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawing and description and the essential feature thereof will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is an elevation of a section of highway guard rail of the type described; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of my improved guard rail at one of the supporting brackets; Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the device of Fig. 2 with a portion of the guard rail broken away to more clearly illustrate the construction; Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 and showing a modified form of construction; Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the device of Fig. 4; while Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the bracket ofFigs. 2 to 5.

The improved guard rail construction here illustrated is particularly adapted for use with highway guards where a series of posts I0 alongside the highway support a substantially endless rail l I generally composed of a flat strip of metal with its flat face vertical. Bracket means is provided at each post for supporting the guard rail and this invention has to do with improvements in such brackets.

The present invention provides a bracket formed of resilient sheet metal bent to provide a hollow bracket having its walls generally vertical when positioned in the guard rail assembly. The front wall of the bracket or the wall toward the rail provides a curved portion or nose for supporting the rail so that if a blow causes a deflection of the rail to one side ofthe bracket the rail is bent gradually about a rounded nose of the bracket so as to hold rail deformation to a minimum and permit easy return of the rail to straightened condition Whenthe pressure or the post face which provides sufficient support for the bracket in a direction longitudinally of the rail to prevent rotation of the bracket about the post when a blow is struck to one side thereof. 1 have also provided openings through the walls of the hollow bracket back of the curved nose thereof permitting passage therethrough of spring means connected with associated overlapping rail ends so as to provide a novel combination between the take-up spring and the bracket.

The foregoing functions may be provided. in brackets of various shapes but a preferred embodiment shown herein comprises the sheet metal bracket [2 composed of a resilient plate bent to form a hollow member with the walls thereof generally vertical and having two side Walls Ma and I2!) extending at an angle toward each other and toward the vertex portion 12c where they are connected together by a rounded nose. For simplicity of description in the specification and claims I have described this particular curve as viewed in plan view in Figs. 2 and 4 as hyperbolic because. it is substantially the form of one-half of a hyperbolic curve. The bracket has a flat vertical rear wall lid which is a chord of the curve forming the front portion of the bracket. This rear wall portion may be formed in a special manner as hereinafter described but my invention is broad enough to include such construction however formed. In general it will be noted that the brackets of Figs. 2 and 4 as viewed in plan are substantially triangle in shape with the base secured to the post and the vertex somewhat rounded and secured to the guard rail.

A specialized manner of forming the rear wall of the bracket while at the same time providing openings through the side walls of the bracket for the passage of springs is illustrated in the various views. Tongues of metal l3a are struck up out of the metal of side wall |2a and other tongues I317 are struck up out of the metal of the side wall l2b. These tongues are integrally attached to the side walls toward the rear there.- of and are bent inwardly as shown in Fig. 2 to form the rear wall of the bracket with the tongues overlapping on the vertical face of the post. Bolt means i4 secures the tongues and therefore the bracket to the post.

My improved bracket may be used in the form shown by simply attaching a guard rail strip to the nose of the bracket either by bolts passing through holes in the strip so as to permit no relative movementbetween. the rail and the bracket or with. bolts in the bracket. passing through slots in the strip permitting some relative movement between the strip and the bracket. A more SP6- cialized form is illustrated here wherein two rail strips l la.- and I lb meet at the bracket with their free ends overlapping.- and provided with slotted openings l5 through which pass bolts l'5a, thus securing the guard rail strips to the bracket permitting relative movement of the strips relsheet and bent to form a chord of said curve, a post, said tongue portions secured to said post, and a guard rail secured to said bracket at the vertex of said curve, there being a pin and slot connection between said rail and bracket permitting relative movement between them.

3. A bracket for supporting a guard rail in spaced relation to a supporting post having a flat vertical face parallel to said rail, said bracket comprising a sheet of resilient metal forming a hollow member with walls substantially vertical, the wall of said member toward .said rail being 7 curved convexly toward said rail, said rail being mediate portion 11b which passes through the openings in the side walls of the bracket. The springs are supported in their abutments in an adjustable manner by the nuts I8.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the bracket 19 is in all respects similar to that described except that the tongues 20 overlap sufiiciently to permit two bolts 2| to be spaced apart in a direction parallel to the length of the rail for attaching the bracket to the post ID. A different type of spring 22 is used to connect the rail surface Ila and l lb together but the functioning of the parts is the same as previously described. It will be noted here that the spring 22 is of less diameter than the springs I! and therefore the helical portion of the spring itself passes through the openings in the side walls of the bracket.

It is obvious that a blow at or near a bracket 7 will cause the same to deflect toward the post as indicated in the dot-dash lines of Fig. 2. The 'fiat rear wall of the bracket engaging the flat vertical face of the post has sufficient bearing in a direction parallel to the length of the rail to substantially prevent twisting of the bracket about the post. The load is thus distributed directly to the post eliminating eccentric loading. The form shown in Fig. 4 is slightly better for this purpose because of the use of two bolts 21 in place of the single bolt 14 of Fig. 2. The reference to one bolt in the case of Fig. 2 and two bolts in the case of Fig. 4 will be understood to have reference to a single horizontal plane because obviously as many bolts may be provided vertically alined with those shown in Figs. 2 and 4 as are necessary according to the vertical depth of the bracket.

It will be noted that the bracket may be provided of the full vertical depth of the flat guard rail so as to provide a very strong support. The openings through the side walls of the bracket permit the tensioning spring to lie closely adjacent the face of the guard rail so that the spring pull is as nearly alined with the rail itself as is possible. Also the portions struck out'from the side walls of the bracket provide a greater flexibility where this is needed. Obviously the number of openings in the side walls of the brackets may be varied as required. Two are shown in Figs. 3 and 6 but obviously one, three, or more might be provided. 7

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a bracket comprising a sheet of resilient metal bent to a hyperbolic curve in plan view, tongue portions struck out of said sheet and bent to form a chord of said curve, a post, said tongue portions secured to said post, and a guard rail secured to said bracket at the vertex of said curve.

2. In combination, a bracket comprising a sheet of resilient metal bent to a hyperbolic curve in plan view, tongue portions struck out of said secured to the highway side of said convexly curved wall, the wall of said member toward the post being a chord of said curve when viewed in plan, said last named wall being secured to said flat face of said post, and said last named wall and post face being of sufiicient dimension in a direction parallel to said rail substantially to prevent twisting of said bracket about said post when said guard rail is struck at one side of said post.

4. In combination, a guard rail, a post having a vertical face parallel to said rail, a bracket of sheet metal having a rounded face toward said rail and having a flat face secured to said post face, there being openings through the walls of said bracket back of said rounded face, said rail comprising flat strips having free ends overlapping at said bracket, means connecting said free ends of said strips to the rounded face of said bracket and permitting relative movement between said strips longitudinally of said rail, and spring means passing through said openings and secured to the ends of said strips in a manner to urge said strips toward each other.

5. In combination, a guard rail, a post having a vertical face parallel to said rail, a bracket formed of a sheet of resilient metal bent to a hyperbolic curve in plan view and. forming a hollow member with walls substantially vertical, said bracket having a rounded vertex portion toward said rail, tongue portions struck up out of said sheet, said tongue portions being integral with said sheet at the rear portion of the side walls of said bracket and when struck out leaving openings extending substantially horizontally toward the vertex portion and stopping short of the vertex portion, said tongue portions being bent to form a chord of said curve and being secured to the vertical face of said post, said rail comprising fiat strips having free ends overlapping at said bracket, means connecting said free ends of said strips to the outer face of the vertex portion of said bracket and per-' mitting relative movement between said strips longitudinally of said rail, and spring means passing through said openings and secured to the ends of said strips in a manner to urge said strips toward each other.

6. In a highway guard in combination, a post having a flat vertical face toward the highway, a sheet metal bracket substantially triangular in plan view having one side thereof fixed to said post and the vertex of the triangle toward the highway, the metal of said bracket being rounded at said vertex, a guard rail having a fiat vertical face parallel to the face of said post, and means fastening said face of said guard rail to the vertex of said triangle entirely outside of said triangle.

WILLIAM S. FERGUSON. 

